MONTEREY PARK – The UC Santa Barbara women’s swim team began closing a 37-point gap on first-place Hawaii Friday night at the MPSF Championships, bringing themselves within 13.5 points heading into the final day of competition. The men, with 442 points are out of contention for the team title but won two individual championships Friday. They sit in third and trail first-place Hawaii by 142 points.
Highlights of Day 3 for Santa Barbara were individual championships by Emily Boggess in the 200 Freestyle (1:46.64), Dominic Falcon in the 400 IM (3:47.66), and Jolen Griffin in the 100 Back (47.48).
The 200 Free was a key race for the women as Emily Ward and Elena England took third and fifth place (1:47.50 and 1:48.94), while Boggess finished first. Ward also contributed a fifth-place finish in the 100Y Back (55.01).
Senior Heaven Quintana played a crucial role for the women’s squad, finishing second in both the 100 Fly (53.66) and 100 Breast (1:01.13). Seniors Doug Nogueira and Joe Lastelic were key for the men, both with second-place finishes, Nogueira in the 400 IM (3:49.80) and Lastelic in the 200 Free (1:37.23).
Freshman Zoe Cosgrove had a third-place finish in the 100 Back (54.22), while Justin Nguyen touched third in the 100 Back (47.80) and Kian Brouwer in the 100 Fly (47.02).
Sophomore Dan Marella picked up a fourth-place finish in the 400 IM (3:52.86), while Zach Dietz finished fifth in the 100 Back (48.74). Jacquelyn Harris also finished fifth in the 100 Fly (54.61).